Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and former Republican Congressman from Florida recently penned an article for Newsweek magazine entitled “Is The Tea Party Over“. In the story, Scarborough posits his view that “The anti-Obama anger that helped fuel the ‘Massachusetts miracle’ is now threatening to tear the movement apart.” My advice to anyone who has liked or listened to Joe Scarborough in the past, turn his crappy brand of journalism off and go do something more productive with your time like join a Tea Party Group or go to one of their meetings. I happen to know a good Tea Party Group I can recommend. In the meantime, here’s my open letter to Joe Scarborough and Newsweek.
Joe,
I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but you, sir, are a lazy reporter. In the story “Is The Tea Party Over”, you have exposed yourself as a closet liberal which I have suspected you to be for a very long time. You have also pointed out some things that I’d like to respond to, if not for your benefit than for all those who might actually believe that you represent any form of true conservatism. You do not. You have displayed no inside knowledge of the work being done by hundreds of Tea Party groups on a daily basis and yet you speak as if you “really do know what is going on”. You do not. Nor, I suspect does anyone at either MSNBC or Newsweek. I might also suggest that while the Democrats are clearly off-balance and have been caught off-guard, so to are the Republicans because I’m still hearing comments from their side that make me laugh. Your comments just made me sick.
You drank the kool-aid, Joe, and it shows.
After spending the first half of your piece comparing the Tea Party Movement to the eclectic collection of Ross Perot supporters and God-forbid Second Ammendment supporters and repeating what I consider to be the most offensive name given to Tea Party Patriots under the guise of a quote, you spent the second half of the article trying to explain why the Tea Party Movement is “tearing itself apart”. You are wrong, sir. You along with everyone else who thinks they have this movement figured out are wrong.
As examples of what you deem to be the problem, you mention the issues surrounding the Tea Party Nation, the National Tea Party Convention planned for February and some comments made by the “tea party’s spiritual leader and carnival barker, Glenn Beck”.
First of all, the problems being experienced by the Tea Party Nation are of their own making and not representative of the Tea Party Movement. In an effort to “make a living” off the Tea Party Movement, it’s founder, Judson Phillips, Esq. set up the Tea Party Nation as a “for profit enterprise” with the stated intention to use the funds raised to work full time on the project and to fund Tea Party activities around the country. There have been some disagreements within the Tea Party Nation about the direction and handling of the group as expressed in this article by a former insider and webdesigner. I cannot judge who is right and who is wrong in the Tea Party Nation infighting, I wasn’t there. It’s clear though that neither were you since your reference apparently came from what you had read in published news reports. I have no beef with the Tea Party Nation, nor with their desire to have a convention, but I have to admit that setting the group up as a “for-profit” enterprise seems a bit strange. Are the problems within the Tea Party Nation indications of problems within the Tea Party Movement? Not no, but hell no and how you could make the case that it does is beyond me.
It’s this kind of lazy reporting that just infuriates Tea Party members everywhere. It is part and parcel of why the main stream media is losing it’s role as the defenders of freedom and information. Go ahead, Joe, you and your journalistic companions keep this up and we won’t have to listen to you much longer. You’ll be gone just like Air America. Air America did more to reduce air pollution by turning off the microphones than any legislation coming out of Washington in the last 30 years.
Secondly, I take exception to your assertion that your competitor on another network is the “tea party’s spiritual leader and carnival barker”. Glenn Beck happens to be on the one news network that is outperforming every other network and especially MSNBC. It is apparent that this irritates you greatly. Frankly, if I had the ratings MSNBC has I’d be irritated too. But the Tea Party’s spiritual leaders are Washington, Jefferson, Paine, Madison, and all the other great men who helped form and shape the Constitution of these United States not Glenn Beck. Does Glenn Beck say a lot of stuff that Tea Party members agree with? Absolutely. Has Glenn Beck helped organized a segment of the population through his 9-12 organizations? Absolutely. Has Glenn Beck done some real journalism and reported stuff that no other outlet will carry? Absolutely. Does the Tea Party Movement look to Glenn Beck for direction, guidance or instructions? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
To imply so, proves that you are being lazy intellectually at best or jealous of Beck’s success at worst.
I don’t necessarily agree with the exact Beck quote you used: “I want his every move watched in Washington. I don’t trust this guy. This one could end with a dead intern.” I do not anticipate a dead intern with Scott Brown, but I will agree with the spirit of quote which is this: We cannot afford to give Scott Brown our support for the election and then just assume that he will do as he promised. We’ve been doing that for the last 40 years and look what it got us. Politicians are experts at promising what their voters want during election time and then going to Washington and doing as they damn well please without feeling required to live up to any of the promises they made. Did you do that too when you were a Congressman?
My point is that the Tea Party Movement is not motivated nor orchestrated by any single individual. It is only partially motivated by the liberal policies being rammed down our throats by Barack Obama, Pelosi and Reid. The Tea Party Movement is motivated far more by the attitude of these elected officials expressed by their arrogance and their obvious intention to ignore the Constitution and the voice of the people for whom they work. That has not changed and it is the unifying cry of Tea Party Groups all over this country. Good legislation can and should be bi-partisan. Health care reform and Cap & Trade are anything BUT bi-partisan. Doesn’t that bother you at all?
The final nail in the coffin was the last paragraph:
The more important question for the populist movement may be whether this loosely organized political phenomenon can remain intact long enough to challenge a two-party system that has dominated American politics since George Washington rode off to Mount Vernon to live out his final years. If history is any guide, the prospects of long-term success are as unlikely as a Republican winning a Senate seat in Massachusetts.
You call the Tea Party Movement a phenomenon and ask whether it “can remain intact long enough to challenge a two-party system”. Which only serves to prove to me at least that you haven’t done your homework. The Tea Party Movement has been around since before “George Washington rode off to Mount Vernon”. We were on the Mayflower searching for Freedom. We bought and read Thomas Payne’s “Common Sense”. We were in Boston Harbor and in Valley Forge and at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We sat next to Benjamin Franklin as the Constitution was written and signed. We were there when Washinton first took the oath. We were at Gettysburg when Lincoln spoke of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”. We were there at Pearl Harbor and we were there at VE Day and VJ Day. We were there when Kennedy told us to “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” We were there when Reagan spoke of a “shining city on a hill” and we were there with George Bush when he told us through a bullhorn “I can hear you! I can hear you!”
No, Joe, the Tea Party isn’t over, it’s just coming back to life and gaining it’s strength. And, we will be there at every election from hereon, not to be a third party as you presume, but to remove the corruption within the current system and return the United States to the principles of the Constitution, to remind elected officials of their fiscal responsibility to the country and to accept our own personal responsibilities.
I do not understand why you and the rest of the media and all of the other politicians can’t figure the Tea Party Movement out. It seems so simple to me.
Sincerely,
TheGuru
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Great letter. We have only just begun. This administration has awakened a sleeping giant.